What am I waiting for?

[packing_jarrett 0]

Allright the deal is simple. I have over 310 jumps with the last 20 of them being made on a gti. I've been having stable exits and deployments with no line twists or anything like that. I've been flying the gti in the high 40's. I've been getting out some 3 miles away from 10K. The last couple of jumps I've been doing aerobatics. I think I can execute a pretty good barrel roll and front loop. I've gotten out of instability "easily" my instructor says. I had to send the loner suit back and have a skyflyer1. My equipment is a racer with a sabre 135 loaded at 1.2:1. No problems there. What would you guys think if I jumped the skyflyer this weekend?
note: I know to make first jump/s handle touches.

Na' Cho' Cheese

[matthewcline 0]

Not a flyer yet as I do not think I have the experience. But having spoken with a BMI as to the pre req's forwhe nI thought about starting, I would think getting more jumps to meet what is considered the minimum would be advisable.

Then re-ask the question.

Right now I think the answer is "experience".

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[Tornolf 0]

Most of my jumps are on a SF1. It'll be a little less stable at first but it worked great for me. I went to it after about 20 Classic jumps. Be wary pulling in full flight at first, I was able to get a Falcon 175 loaded at .9 to go into surprisingly fast spinning linetwists one time

A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world.
-TJ

[PhreeZone 20]

I heard about those line twists. They get even better when you load a canopy up to the 1.5 range.

The S1 is a squirly suit in that it almost feels like you are side sliding at points due to the narrow leg stance. Its arm wing is'nt as bad at pull time as some of the larger suits, but you still need to be aware of it since you can have issues with it.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[The111 1]

I'm not sure why anybody would want to learn on a suit that the manufacturer quit making because it was unstable/twitchy.

Not saying it's impossible, but there are much better options out there.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[VectorBoy 0]

No problems there. What would you guys think if I jumped the skyflyer this weekend?

[dhracer33 0]

I made my first two jumps on a GTI and the next 30ish were on a SF1. Jump the heck out of it untill you can afford a "newer" suit. It isn't the most user friendly suit out there, but you can still have a great time with it. And yea, don't jump a Vampire untill you are ready to buy one. I jumped one at a boggie and ended up buying a stock suit at the end of the day, never jumped the SF1 again.

[badenhop 0]

Hello,
This is a dangerous place to ask questions, but you did ask, so it only seems decent that someone should give you some straight answers. The second question you asked was "what would we think if you jumped the skyflyer this weekend"? Well, quite frankly, I don't think most of us would be affected all that much by a decision you make about what suit to jump. Barbie and Ken are likely to urge you to use extreme caution, while Bonnie and Clyde might just say "go for it". The first question you asked is the question of substance. You asked "What am I waiting for"? That is quite complex. Perhaps you're waiting for me to make a decision for you. Perhaps you would like my decision to be approval for your actions. Perhaps if I were to approve of your actions, and in turn your actions lead to you becoming injured, or worse, you could then find comfort in not having to take responsibility for yourself (because "so-and-so said it was okay").
Maybe you consider the imaginary wisdom of imaginary users on an imaginary internet as sufficient advice for you to use in weighing the risk you will take with your not so imaginary pulse.
Young friend, 310 sky jumps is really not that much experience. Something else to note is that you claim 20 GTi jumps, which include 3 mile flights in the high 40's during which you have performed aerobatics, rolls, and loops. Apparently you can recover from instability according to your instructor, .....WAIT A MINUTE! You have an instructor?! If you felt you needed an instructor in the first place, why aren't you asking your instructor about suit suitability? I mean if "the deal is simple", why complicate it with virtual opinions.
Ignorance is bliss.

Good luck,
God bless,
Avery

==================================

I've got all I need, Jesus and gravity. Dolly Parton

http://www.AveryBadenhop.com

[mccordia 74]

I've done a few jumps on a skyflyer1 (30 or so) and it feels a bit wobbly/twitchy trying to max it, but aside from that, it didnt feel a whole lot different from the S3. You're just missing a fairly big piece of legwing, and that just affects your flying. If you're buying one..I'd look for something else...used S3 maybe..(with all the new suits, you can find them 2nd hand at good prices more and more)

But if you can score an S1 cheep. Danny (a belgian jumper, I know he reads here) recently had his S1 modded by his rigger, and basicaly turned into an S3.

The rigger added (working) 2 cells to the leg-wings, which (according to danny) made a huge difference in flying it.

Maybe Hans (gadget) has some pictures of Danny's suit?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[Gadget 0]

Euh....... i think so.Have to look when i get home

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes???
My logbook

[TALONSKY 0]

Jarrett, you need to listen to your dad (he is not trying to hold you back he just wants to make sure your ready). Your dad has been talking to Scott about you jumping that suit. Sometimes parents do know what is best. When he feels you are ready he will have Scott come up and take you out in that suit. Jarrett try having some patients, you are 15 and have the rest of your life to spend getting into all the different disciplines of skydiving.
Kirk

[mccordia 74]

I didnt get your age...not that it makes any difference...

But basicaly..nobody can judge over the the internet how good a flyer and/or skydiver you are.
leave it up to people that know you best, and trust their judgement.

And with your age...by the time you reach the age of most people in here, you'll be flying circles around us 'old folks'...so why to rush...the sport is not going anywhere...and by getting into something maybe a tad too early...will only give you a lot of exra stress, and (incidents aside) take away a lot of enjoyment you could have had, with just a tad more experience...

*edit*

and about your question 'is the skyflyer 1 a good learner suit'
It can be flown ok(ish) by someone with little experience..and with some rigger-work can be turned into something better...

but when you look at all the suits from all manifacturers available on the market at this time...I think for most people..its the last suit anyone would ever recomend to someone as a good 'learning-suit'

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[dragon2 2]

I jumped my S1 after 80+ jumps on a classic2. It was fun, but also twitch and sorta scary. I only did 5 jumps on it then I sold it and bought an S3. Never looked back. I really do not like the S1, although another jumper who tried my suit said it flew twitchier than his own S1 so maybe something was "off" on this suit. But it was too small to let other experienced jumpers fly it, so I was glad i could sell it. YMMV. But as a wingsuit instructor, I wouldn't recommend it to you with so few total jumps and so few wingsuit jumps. It can get you into much more trouble than that gti can. What's the rush?

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Tornolf 0]

Twitchy is a good way to describe it. However, I found it fairly easy to do performance time flying with (I usually averaged low 40's with it.) It definitely forces you to get good with acrobatics though, cause otherwise you'll end up on your back in a spin. Definitely good training for flat spins though I pretty much lost count how many I got myself into trying random stuff in it.

A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world.
-TJ

[Gadget 0]

Quote

But if you can score an S1 cheep. Danny (a belgian jumper, I know he reads here) recently had his S1 modded by his rigger, and basicaly turned into an S3.

The rigger added (working) 2 cells to the leg-wings, which (according to danny) made a huge difference in flying it.

Maybe Hans (gadget) has some pictures of Danny's suit?

Found some of the modified Skyflyer you can see that instead of 4 the tail has 6 cells (with thanks to Costeyn )

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes???
My logbook

[dragon2 2]

Did you tell Danny that he's pulling his armwings closed?
The extra tail isn't helping him if he isn't flying...

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Gadget 0]

didn't look to me that he wasn't flying in that jump.

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes???
My logbook

[packing_jarrett 0]

Allright to add to the story...
before I even jumped a ws I bought the skyflyer. Yes extremely bad on my part. Nothing I can do about it now. My instructor wasn't going to teach me on the s1. No problem I'll barrow my buddies gti (buddy jumps at dz 125 miles away). After 2 weeks of jumping this suit (20 jumps), I had to return it to him. I recently talked to my instructor and he says, "it seems like your doing good on the gti and will handle it fine..." "...so if your confident you should be fine" He told me to do the pratice handle touches and everything. The person who is holding me back is my dad. He thinks one day I will magicaly be ready to jump the suit. I'm not going to jump the s1 this weekend because my dad took it away. Looks like another week goes by thats hurting my currency.

Na' Cho' Cheese

[mccordia 74]

Quote

It definitely forces you to get good with acrobatics though

I recently made a few S1 jumps in Empuria, and though flying it in a formation took a bit more effort then normal, backflying a Skyflyer1 is actualy quite easy due to the smaller legwing.

You just notice that you have a bit less range, and your legwing/power is more like an on/off feature...

But the smaller flying position just means you're a little less stable, and someone flying it for the first time could encounter some nasty sheit if he went a little unstable....

You asked for advice...most (if not all) people in here say 'wait longer/do more jumps...' just like your dad...

That SHOULD be your answer?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[packing_jarrett 0]

Yeah my dad gave me the goahead to jump the suit. Its pretty awesome. It wasn't as twitchy as people made it out to be. But yet it required much more attention then the gti I was jumping. I made 9-10 skyflyer jumps this weeked all going excellent. Got it down in the 45-50 average. and was getting out 3 miles out from 10K. I still have so much to learn.

Na' Cho' Cheese

[sdctlc 0]

Nice exit shot!

Scott

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

Yeah my dad gave me the goahead to jump the suit. Its pretty awesome. It wasn't as twitchy as people made it out to be. But yet it required much more attention then the gti I was jumping. I made 9-10 skyflyer jumps this weeked all going excellent. Got it down in the 45-50 average. and was getting out 3 miles out from 10K. I still have so much to learn.

Nice Jarrett. How did the grippers work out for you?

Be safe
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[packing_jarrett 0]

Yeah dude they worked out nice. My first jumps with a gti had you wing grippers so I decided to go with grippers again. Like on jump 5 or 6 I decided to try not to use them and it felt wierd. I really like them. Thanks.

Na' Cho' Cheese